Democratic Socialism

Corporate socialism has been the method of rule in the United States for a very long time. It has not worked, and we are in a downwards spiral into the black hole of a climate catastrophe. It is time to try democratic socialism, which holds the promise of slowing and reversing this environmental decline. This environmental decline, the mass extinctions that come with it and the climate change science deniers themselves are, as Bob Dylan said in his song “Masters of War,” which shined a light on corporate militarism, “A threat to my baby unborn and unnamed.”

Corporate socialism has allowed corporations to externalize or export onto the public the costs of cleaning up the environmental mess they create. We subsidize corporate profits with our tax dollars by either paying to clean up the toxic air, water and soil they leave behind, or we pay with healthcare costs by treating the illness caused by the toxic poisons corporations leave behind. Poor communities pay the majority of these costs because toxic waste is disproportionately located adjacent to where poor people live. You may say that we pay either way, because if regulations require companies to operate without polluting. the cost of goods will rise. That is true, but if clean up costs are not part of the costs of doing business there is no incentive to find cleaner ways of production.

In defending democratic socialism during a televised town hall on Fox news, a front runner for the Democratic Presidential nomination defined democratic socialism. The candidate said…
“Democratic socialism to me, is creating a government and an economy and a society which works for all, rather than just the top 1%. It means ending the absurd inequalities that exist today. (The) American people have got to conclude whether we think it is appropriate, and what America is about… to have three families owning more wealth than the bottom half of the American society — 160 million people. Whether it’s appropriate for the top 1% to own more wealth than the bottom 92%. Whether it is right that 49% of all the [inaudible] income goes to the top 1% when many people watching this program who (are) working two or three jobs, just to pay the bills.

So first of all, we want to create a government that works for all of us, and we want to create a political system, which is based on one person one vote, not billionaires buying elections as a result of this disastrous Citizens United.

And furthermore, furthermore, when I talk— and you know, people have different views of capitalism or democratic socialism— whatever it may be—but this is my view. I believe that human beings, especially in a wealthy, democratic civilized society, like our own, are entitled to certain basic rights.”

The candidate went on to list what he believed some of those basic human rights to be including health care is a human right not a privilege, education—whether you’re poor, whether you’re rich—you have the right to get all of the education you need. And that is why I believe we should make public colleges and universities tuition free, to when they turn on the water, they have drinkable water, not toxic water. It is a society not where just a few people can make a whole lot of money, but a society where everybody in this country has the opportunity to live in security and dignity.

2 comments

I have received an NRCC survey and it uses the world socialism 37 times to scare Republicans, including people who dislike Trump, to continue to vote for Republicans so scary Democrats don’t get in power again. Please, please, let’s not shoot ourselves in the foot by talking about socialism. Democratic policy is to support capitalism, but to keep it from its excesses with regulations. Democratic socialists are not Democrats. They also aren’t a political party as they cannot field candidates that can win in the US of A. If we want to win in 2020 and stop the Trump agenda, we need to stop saying the word socialism and clarify that Democrats support regulated capitalism.

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